Appointments

We have introduced a touch screen system which enables the doctor to know that you have arrived and are waiting for your appointment.  This should help ease the queues at the reception desk.

The system is easy to use.  First it asks if you are male or female, then what date you were born and finally, what month.  It then searches the dates of birth for all the patients who are due to arrive in the next 40 minutes.  It will identify you and tell you that you are signed in and which waiting room to take a seat in.  However, if you arrive late for your appointment, it will ask you to see the receptionist.

If you would like any help with using this system, please ask at the reception desk.  The touch screen can be located to the right of the reception desk as you come into the waiting room.

It is important that you inform the reception staff if you are unable to attend your appointment, this will allow that appointment to be offered to another patient. If you fail to notify the Practice that you are unable to attend, you will be sent a letter informing you that you have defaulted from your appointment. Persistent defaulters maybe removed from the list.

You can also complete our appointment cancellation notification request form. This can only be used if your appointment has been arranged for more than 24 hours in advance. (excluding weekends and public holidays). You can also text to cancel your appointment.

Patients are requested, where possible, to telephone before 11am if a home visit is required that day.

We would request that, apart from the genuinely housebound, all other patients attend the surgery rather than request a home visit because of the extra time home visiting takes. On average four to five patients can be seen in surgery in the time it takes to do a single house call. In addition, the care that can be offered due to the lack of adequate lighting, examination facilities and equipment means that you may not receive as good a service as the doctor may be able to offer if you came to the surgery.

Please note that the doctor may telephone you rather than visit you if this is medically appropriate. Ultimately it is the doctors right to decide whether a visit is appropriate for a particular set of circumstances.

Please attend your appointment on time, if you are late you may not be seen. If you are not seen you will not be able to rearrange your appointment until the next working day - except in the event of an medical emergency that requires immediate attention.

If you require an interpreter to attend with you when you see your Doctor please notify the receptionist and she will arrange this for you.

We offer the following outside of normal hours

• Appointments from 7:00am on Monday mornings
• Appointments from 6:30pm on Wednesday evenings
• Appointments on Saturday mornings
• Telephone consultations on one or two mornings and one or two evenings each week

All of these appointments and telephone consultations must be booked in advance. 

It may be necessary for us to alter the timings of our early, late and Saturday surgeries due, for example, to illness or bank holidays. We will endeavour to replace any surgery affected in this way.